Rungsted

Major Charles A. MacKenzie, brother of Dr Alister MacKenzie, designed Rungsted in 1936 and it’s one of Denmark’s oldest and most important courses. Rungsted Golf Club is situated to the north of Copenhagen in delightful parkland, with mature trees flanking each fairway. It’s a nicely balanced layout which requires careful thought to score well.

The club was formed by a breakaway group of members from Copenhagen Golf Club who decided to relocate five miles along the coast, to a spot overlooking the Oresund Straits which separates Denmark from Sweden. Over time, the course has developed into one of the very best in the country, hosting a number of national and international competitions.

The course is routed over slightly hilly terrain with water – in the form of streams cutting across fairways short of the green – coming into play at half a dozen holes. With three par fives and only one par three on the back nine, the inward half plays to a par of 38 and five of these holes (13 to 17) are played on the coastal side of the railway line.

In this edited extract from the book Golf Courses of the World author Geoffrey Giles writes: “It is the expert routing of the holes on the clubhouse side [of the railway line] that makes Rungsted so interesting to play, with plenty of change of pace and direction. No two holes follow the same direction on the outward nine, but most of the back nine is played in parallel with the railway.

Strangely, it is not until the 11th that the first par 5 is encountered, but it is a lovely hole, climbing to an exposed and well-bunkered green. No score is safe, however, until the 17th hole has been negotiated – it is a treacherous, shortish par 4 requiring pin-point accuracy. There is always a chance of recovering a stroke on the eminently reachable par-5 final hole.”